Various human body attached wing devices are known in the prior art. Earlier devices were designed primarily as flying devices, generated enough lift forces for flight rather than just enough to reduce a user's effective weight. Only later were devices designed specifically for sporting activities such as ice-skating, roller-skating, or downhill alpine activities such as skiing and snowboarding.
Typically, prior art devices have been developed primarily as either aerodynamic braking devices or lift wings. Prior art devices often lack functional versatility in that no single prior art device is believed to effectively offer a combined variety of alternate functionality such as being a stabilizing lift wing, acting as an air brake, serving as a steering aid, and providing propulsion assistance on flat terrain.
Prior art devices are often complex and cumbersome to a user. Many prior art devices are not retractable or adjustable during use and do not offer left and right wings that can be manipulated independent of one another. Further, they are often large and require a significant buffer zone around a user during use. Prior art devices are often obtrusive and threatening to others on the mountain slopes and cannot be manipulated to avoid obstacles on the slopes.
To be effective, prior art devices often require a user to assume a particular body position during use that is not consistent with normal skiing or snowboarding. Prior art devices are often attached to a user below the user's center of gravity, e.g., at or around the user's waist, rather than above their center of gravity, e.g., adjacent a user's shoulders. As a result, prior art devices typically do not assist a user to remain upright during alpine skiing or snowboarding activities.
Prior art devices that are worn by a user rather than those that are attached to user via a tether, e.g., snow kiting or paragliding, fail to include effective airfoils such as ram-air canopies and fail to provide wings that are lightweight, portable, easily attached or detached, and conducive for repeated use. In addition, prior art devices fail to include improved ram-air canopies having stiffening members to better maintain wing shape.